CHAPTER 6

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed, faved, and followed. You're all amazing and I'm sorry I haven't been able to write these past few days. I've been really busy with school and I have a bunch of tests this week, so , sorry! This one is pretty short because I still don't have that much time to write, but, anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter all the same.

It's been a week since Danny came home. We've been rehabilitating him again, and introducing him to a healthy home again. He's been doing alright, but he still jumps whenever there's a loud noise. The self confidence he'd gained with us had been shattered by Vlad and we were slowly rebuilding it. He looks down whenever he's around people and actively tries to avoid eye contact. Probably because he thinks he doesn't deserve to look us in the eye.

I can only imagine what he's gone through. Not only at Vlad's, but at the Facility as well. Dad hacked into the Facility's records and searched through it. The procedures were apparently 'only written down in private journals' that were stored in high security locations. The results were the only things we found.

What we found was disgusting. Not a single moment of Danny's life had been private. There is a record of behavioral analysis dating back from July fifteen years ago, presumably when Danny was 'conceived'. He was 'born' in March of the next year.

The kitchen table was littered with warm, freshly printed paper. Each one describing the results of a major test. There were no photographs, and there was never any mention of ethics or morals. No record of using anaesthetic or any painkillers. There were records of 'behavioral regulation', which I translated to abuse as punishment. In one instance, it reads "Subject 80-11 misbehaved again. To correct, starvation and excessive exercise applied. Due to weakness from previous procedure, starvation, and clumsiness, 80-11 suffered from; a greenstick fracture of the radius (common for his age), a comminuted fracture in the ulna, and a compound fracture in the humerus.* 80-11's diet will still be restricted, however, sustenance is needed for quick recovery "

They blamed him for breaking his own arm. He did something 'wrong' and they starved him and probably put him on a treadmill on high for a few hours. He must've tripped and landed on his arm. There isn't a date on the file, but it was probably when Danny was younger. Greenstick fractures are more common in children than in adults, or young adults.

I sighed as I wrote down my thoughts on a yellow legal pad. This was my tenth page of notes. Danny was upstairs, sleeping the day away. I wasn't about to go wake him up. God knows the kid deserved three years of sleep for all he'd been through, according to these records.

It was midday, and the sun was shining into the kitchen window, illuminating the dust particles that floated around in the air. The flowers on the window sill were slowly wilting with dry dirt, and the cactus Mom got me for christmas one year was doing well. A summer breeze from an open window ruffled the papers on the table. Dad was in the living room, knitting, and Mom was working on some paperwork in the office.

The front door rattled on it's hinges as someone pounded a fist against it and shouted."OPEN UP, FENTON!" Dad quickly stood up and walked to the door and swung it open. A man in a pristine white suit wearing dark sunglasses stood in the doorway, the sunlight from behind shadowing his sharp features.

"What can I do for you?" Dad asked in a guarded voice. The man replied simply. "I am operative K of the Guys in White. Some months ago, something escaped one of our facilities. We've gotten a tip that it is here."

"And where exactly did you get that tip? We went on a road trip a few months ago, but we've been home ever since. A silky voice spoke up from behind the agent. A man with long, graying hair in a pretentious ponytail and an expensive looking dark, pinstriped suit. His face was twisted into a wicked looking smirk."Me, Jack. I told them everything."

Dad gasped angrily. "Vlad, what do you-?"

The man, Vlad interrupted Dad with a wave of his hand and a roll of his eyes. "Please, Jack. You put a half ghost freak of nature in my house and you expect me to not call the authorities?" he scoffed. Dad gritted his teeth and thought fast, thinking up a lie on the spot.

"We gave him to you. Shouldn't you have him?" Vlad sighed and grimaced.

"He ran away a number of days ago. Haven't seen him since."

"So, you figured he'd automatically know how to get back here from Wisconsin, without any geographical knowledge at all? You do know he didn't even know how to read until Jazz taught him, right?"

Vlad opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by K. "We are aware of it's...deficiencies… we simply thought it would be best to talk to you, seeing as you do know the thing better than anyone."

"Because I've known him his whole life, yeah? Look, we have no idea where he would be. We thought he was still with Vlad until now." Dad said, emphasizing the pronouns forcefully. K only rolled his eyes at Dad and continued. "We'll be coming after you for harboring it. But we have to find it first. Thank you for nothing, Mr. Fenton." K said sharply before turning around and grabbing Vlad and hauling him back to the white SUV parked on the street.

"Yeah, you too, buddy." Dad viciously replied. Dad slammed the door shut and turned to me. He leaned his back against the door and sighed.

"Pack up your bags and grab your passport. We're leaving." was all he said before he went up to talk to Mom.

I stood there completely still with shock. We were going to uproot our lives because of this? I can understand why, to protect Danny, but why passport? Were we going to leave the country? I robotically walked upstairs and into my room. I pulled out my suitcases and started packing up my room.

Shoving all of my clothes and toiletries into my bag, I only briefly wondered if I should wake up Danny. I decided against it, he'd need all the sleep he could get right now.

My bags were full and all of my clothes were all put away. It was only a little thing, but my room looked so empty. Devoid of all of the things I wore every day made the room seem impersonal and cold. Just another teenager's room. I ran down to the basement and emptied some boxes that Dad used for failed inventions. I hauled them upstairs and packed the rest of my room up.

It was even worse when it was completely empty. Bare and clean. A strange room in a strange house. I brought my boxes downstairs. Mom was doing the same thing.

"We're renting a moving van. Jack went to go get it. He's on his way back now."

"Alright."

I could tell she was pretty broken up about moving. This was her hometown. She never really left. Sure, she went out of state for college, but she never really left Amity Park. This has been her home. And now she was being forced out of it.

She wouldn't blame Danny, though. She's moving to protect him. She sees him as a son, and she'll do anything to help him. She might resent him for a while, but that'll pass quickly enough.

-X-

The whole house was packed up in record time. I was driving the car, following Mom and Danny in the RV, followed by Dad in the moving van. We were going to Canada. It's the closest border and it's unprotected. It'll be easy enough to get through. Dad had gone to the shifty part of town and asked for a forger. it had only taken a few hours. We were now the Andersons. They wouldn't be able to track us through the border with different identities.

Schools in Canada are usually pretty cheap and have good reputations. Mom was able to book an interview in Canmore, Alberta. It was a small enough town, surrounded by tall mountains and some beautiful lakes.

That was going to be our home now.

So, we drove to Canada. Looking forward to our new lives, and regretting our pasts.

-X-

* Basically, a greenstick fracture is where the bone is completely broken and is at an angle of 90 degrees or so, it's more common in children. A comminuted fracture is pretty much when the bone is completely shattered, and a compound fracture is a simple break all the way through the bone. The radius is the bone in the forearm on the thumb's side, the ulna is the bone on the pinky's side, and the humerus is the upper arm bone.